High schools: Amherst sweeps singles matches, takes down Belchertown

Staff Reports

Published: 04-01-2024 9:37 PM

In a battle of two of the top programs in western Massachusetts over recent years, the Amherst boys tennis team came out on top over Belchertown during action Monday.

The Hurricanes won all three singles matches en route to a 4-1 victory.

Amherst’s Miles Jeffries picked up a 6-4, 6-2 win over Belchertown’s Trevor Weiss in their first singles match. Elias Katsaros (6-2, 6-1) and Talvin Dhingra (6-2, 6-4) followed behind with wins for the ‘Canes.

At first doubles, Amherst’s Brock Waldman and Oliver Handsell came back to defeat Belchertown’s Tyler Burrows and Jake Gormely 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

At second doubles, Belchertown’s Graham Guardenfield and Mason Pobieglo knocked off Amherst’s Jackson Barber-Just and Alexander Pobezinskly 7-5, 6-4 for the Orioles’ victory.

PVCICS 3, Pope Francis 2 – PVCICS’s depth and family ties led it to a win over Pope Francis Monday afternoon.

Though Lee Ferguson (6-3, 6-0) was the only PVCICS winner in three singles matches, PVCICS won both doubles matches handily. Teddy and James Scott won their match 6-2, 6-1 and Derek and Devan Ye won theirs, 6-1, 6-3.

Northampton 5, Central 0 – Kaz Sugihara and Eli Wool won the match of the day at second doubles, holding on for a 6-2, 7-5 victory to complete the Blue Devils’ sweep.

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Reilly Fowles (6-0, 6-0), Galen Fowles (6-0, 6-0) and Durrell Patrick (6-0, 6-0) didn’t drop a game at the singles spots for Northampton.

Girls tennis

Belchertown 5, East Longmeadow 0 – The Orioles didn’t drop a set en route to a dominant 5-0 sweep on Monday.

Ava Shea (6-1, 6-0), Anna Stamp (6-0, 6-1) and Amanda Murray (6-0, 6-0) all snagged singles wins for Belchertown, while the doubles teams of Emalee Chaisson/Mia Corish (6-0, 6-4) and Kasey Gibbons/Ellie Gelinas (6-1, 6-4) also scored straight-set wins.

Baseball

Westfield 17, Holyoke 3 — The Purple Knights dropped their opening contest to Westfield, which reached the Division 2 state quarterfinals last year and now sits at 2-0.

Mount Greylock 13, Granby 0 — The Rams fell in an early 8-0 hole before recording an out and couldn’t recover against the Mounties.

Granby was only outhit 6-4 and allowed just a single run after the first two frames, but left eight runners on base.

Catcher Nik Misiaszek led the Rams with a single and a double.

Softball

Monument Mountain 7, Amherst 5 – Sofia Holden struck out 13 in the circle for the Hurricanes, which fell behind 6-0 and nearly came all the way back in a Monday loss.

Holden added two hits at the plate, while Bella Kochan drove in a pair of runs for Amherst.

Hopkins 18, Pioneer 1 — Maggie Potter’s three-hit day helped pace the Golden Hawks to a statement opening day win over the Panthers on Monday afternoon. Ten different Hopkins players crossed home plate, and its six-run second inning helped blow the game open early on.

Juliana Eichenlaub was credited with the victory in the circle for the Golden Hawks.

Hampshire 17, Frontier 7 — It was Hailey Wodecki’s day on Monday.

The Raiders senior ripped two hits and drew a walk, scored three runs and drove in two more to help pace the Raiders to a 10-run win over the Redhawks. One of those hits stood as Wodecki’s 100th knock of her career.

Elsewhere, six Hampshire hitters recorded at least three hits as part of a 21-hit team outburst.

Ashley Taylor ripped two hits, recorded three RBIs and pitched four innings for Frontier in the loss.

Gateway 10, Smith Voc 3 — Makayla Tatro ripped a two-run home run and Josie Dubay added a solo shot to give the Vikings their three runs, but it wasn’t enough to get by the Gators on Monday afternoon.

Smith Voc only gave up two hits, but couldn’t overcome the 16 surrendered walks to Gateway.

Sawyer Wilkinson had a hit and scored three runs for the Gators, while Reeghan Morawiec added a hit and an RBI. Kaitlyn Maynard and Angela Magyar scored two runs apiece in the victory.

Boys lacrosse

Westfield 16, Amherst 3 — The Hurricanes were overpowered by a strong Bombers team on Monday afternoon, falling 16-3 in their season opener at home.

Tri Nguyen (two) and Silas Hazen (one) were the goal scorers for Amherst while Skyler Ferro tallied two assists. Jason Kim stopped 15 shots in the cage in the Canes’ loss. 

Girls lacrosse

Amherst 13, Central 2 — Behind hat tricks from Francesca Sloan (four goals, two assists), Ava Carey (three goals) and Abi Como (three goals), the ‘Canes cruised to a double-digit win over the Golden Eagles.

Talia Sadiq (two goals, one assist), Kiko Bhowmik (one goal, two assists), Zoey Candito (one assist) and Ivorie Arguin (one assist) each tallied points for Amherst as well. Cedar Conrad picked up the win in the cage with six saves.

Josie Taylor, Reese O’Connell, Reagan Mott and Ryleigh Fennessy each found the back of the net as well for the Raiders.

Granby 16, Monson 6 – Kelly-Lynne Kennedy exploded for six goals, and the Rams rolled to a 16-6 win on Monday.

Granby, which led 9-4 at halftime, also received four goals apiece from Kalli White and Brenna Moreno. Ava-Elizabeth Loughman tallied two goals and an assist in the win, and goalie Faith Ramos made two saves.

Boys volleyball

Ludlow 3, Belchertown 0 – Shea MacLean and Noah Yankson tallied eight kills apiece for the Orioles in a 25-15, 25-8, 25-17 loss on Monday to the Lions.

Rainer Kristensen dished out 19 assists for Belchertown, and Zach Dragon added four kills.

Minnechaug 3, Frontier 0 — Jack Carey had three kills, Evan Maio recorded five digs and Theo Sargent and Will Petrin each tallied two blocks as the Redhawks were swept by the Falcons.

Set scores were 25-5, 25-12, 25-13. Frontier falls to 0-3.

Weekend results

Baseball

Hampshire 5, Drury 1 — Senior Mikey Thompson gave the Raiders the early lead with a solo home run, and classmate Jack Boyle allowed just one earned run with five strikeouts on the mound to earn the win on Saturday.

Junior Zach Phakos provided the winning margin with a two-run double, and freshman Vince Carr added a two-run single to round out the scoring. Will Hogan earned the save, striking out one in relief as Hampshire opened the season 1-0.

Softball

West Side 14, Northampton 8 — Caroline Riordan smacked a two-run home run and Sasha Rodriguez added three hits for the Blue Devils in a season-opening loss on Friday.

Haly Doucette-Kaplan reached first base four times for Northampton, while Lily Pelis struck out three in the circle.

Williston results

The Williston boys varsity lacrosse team secured an impressive 18-7 victory against Cheshire Academy on Saturday. Joseph Killcommons led the way with four goals and two assists, Jack Ballinger added three goals, and Justin Fenton Hilt contributed two goals and an assist.

The girls lacrosse team also started the season strong, winning 11-2 against Middlesex School on Sawyer Field. Scarlett Graybill had a standout performance with four goals and two assists. The Wildcats’ defense was stellar and was supported by 13 saves from Hazel Jacobs.

Elsewhere, the girls water polo team secured an impressive 18-8 victory over Deerfield Academy. Maisie Mattocks led the way with eight goals, three assists, and four  steals. Hayden Hedstrom had seven goals, while Juno Aselton had three goals, four assists, and four saves in goal. Mel McCullough had five crucial saves in goal.